A new beginning... my letter to you

I was reading one of my favourite books the other day; I pick it up from time to time and read a chapter or two; it always makes me think about where I want to be in life and how good my life is at times. It is a book about Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir and the life that they spent together. They were (just in case you don’t know) this legendary couple. Existentialist philosophers / writers who met by chance at the Sorbonne in Paris. Anyway this book is about their lives and loves and the letters that they used to write to each other whilst they were apart. You see, they had pledged to be together forever and believed that they were soul mates but had accepted that each of them should be allowed to be with whomever they wanted because he did not want to get married. Now I know you are probably thinking... “So…” Well it just got me thinking about how back in those days and through wars, how people used to communicate with friends and loved ones. They could only communicate through letters and had no way of knowing if their words would reach the other person and if they would get a response. That must have been really terrible to have that on your mind as you are writing to someone. How on earth did they handle it? These people must have been so strong and have so much faith. It is extraordinary really. Now take us for example, our generation. We have been completely spoiled by all the technology that we have around us now. Mobile phones, computers, internet, if we lost it all many of us would not know what to do; the word doomed comes to mind. Even me, I am writing you a letter but I am using a computer as it is so much simpler than actually putting pen to paper plus it is tidier than my handwriting. A little bit of OCD coming out I think Lol. Well, that’s my little rant over with. ‘Thankfully’ I hear you say.


Ok so what else do you talk about in a letter? Theoretically I can say whatever I want to say and there is not a lot you can do about it. Can you class a letter as a conversation? It is a little more like a soliloquy, there is an audience and you are speaking to them directly but they are not involved in what it is that you are saying. I guess I probably put too much thought into things at times. I actually found a few documents on my computer today that were simply labelled… ‘Thoughts’ So I had a little read through them, it was kind of nice to remember what was going through my mind at specific points in time. Like keeping a diary but only writing in it when you had something notable to say that you could not tell anyone. These things that I wrote were completely personal and significant to how I felt at the time and therefore no person on this planet has ever read them.


In this life, we all want to make some sort of lasting impression so that we are not forgotten after we are gone. I guess that is why some people seek fame and fortune and others choose a life like Mother Theresa’s. We all want someone to remember us whether we know it or not. Yet, here I am, a completely private person who has all this stuff to say but never really says any of it. I can write everything down and hide it away and never let anyone see it but in order to have lived a life worthy of living, we must not allow our insecurities and fears to rule over us. So here it is… a continual little excerpt of private thoughts and emotions that I am forwarding into the world through you. This is completely unprecedented for me you know, I just figured that since I am writing to you I would make it worthwhile and not all just rubbish chatter.


So there you have it… the weird, the silly and the serious. Now I am thinking that I have probably bored you enough and should perhaps let you get back to whatever you were up to. I hope that you have enjoyed a little trip into my strange little mind and that it does not mess you up completely too